FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[Kangasox]

This has probably been asked also, but for ventilation, could I drill holes in the lid of the 5 gallon bucket, so it could snap tightly closed, but still get air? It lives in the coop. I am also thinking about getting a second food scoop and drilling holes into it to drain as I scoop it out.

 

[Beekissed]

You sure can...only need one hole, really. I leave my lid half snapped on, leaving the other side cocked up a little to have a slit for venting. The chickens can't get that off, so no worries about it staying on.

 

[Leigti]

Chickens will not over eat if fed a complete and balanced diet, keep in mind that chicken eat to fill there energy needs not to fill there stomach. If your chickens are eating a lot of feed, acting like there starved when you feed them that means that there is something wrong with the ration your feeding most likely it is a low energy or a very incomplete feed.

Here is a examples of amount of Metabolisable Energy a commercial type egg laying bird should be receiving per day.
(Note - Most hatchery type chickens fall under a commercial type egg laying bird)

0 - 6 week should be getting a Metabolisable Energy amount of 2750-2970 Kcal/Kg
6 - 12 weeks 2750-3025 of Metabolisable Energy
12 - 15 weeks 2700-2970 of Metabolisable Energy
15 - Prod. 2725-2980 of Metabolisable Energy

Laying hens that are
1 - 32 weeks laying 2770-2860 Kcal/Kg of Metabolisable Energy
32 - 44 weeks laying 2725-2860 Kcal/Kg of Metabolisable Energy
44 - 55 weeks laying 2675-2860 Kcal/Kg of Metabolisable Energy
> 55 weeks laying 2550-2825 Kcal/Kg of Metabolisable Energy

I feed them scratch and peck brand layer feed. It looks like a good feed to me but I'm open to suggestions. I'm probably feeding closer to one cup per chicken per day. Half in the morning and half in the evening.

 

[Chris09]

I feed them scratch and peck brand layer feed. It looks like a good feed to me but I'm open to suggestions. I'm probably feeding closer to one cup per chicken per day. Half in the morning and half in the evening.

Suggestion, try to get into the habit of going by weight not volume when feeding.
Reason being, your feeding a feed that is grains and crumbles and it takes up more volume than a mash type feed but a pound of feed is a pound of feed no matter the type.
Another way to look at it is this, one's persons 1/4 cup of feed could be another persons 1 cup of feed when you weigh it out and in the end there eating the same amount of nutrition.

Now after saying all that, how much scratch and peck feed do your birds eat when there feed is not fermented, is it the same as when it is fermented? I have a funny felling that fermenting feed may lower the Metabolisable Energy.

 

[Leigti]

Suggestion, try to get into the habit of going by weight not volume when feeding.
Reason being, your feeding a feed that is grains and crumbles and it takes up more volume than a mash type feed but a pound of feed is a pound of feed no matter the type.
Another way to look at it is this, one's persons 1/4 cup of feed could be another persons 1 cup of feed when you weigh it out and in the end there eating the same amount of nutrition.   

Now after saying all that, how much scratch and peck feed do your birds eat when there feed is not fermented, is it the same as when it is fermented? I have a funny felling that fermenting feed may lower the Metabolisable Energy.

One of the reasons I ferment it is because the food has nutritional additives in it, they end up being a sort of a powder on the greens. And when it's dry the birds don't eat it all but if it is wet they do. Would I be better off just wedding the food rather than actually fermenting it? I like this brand and a couple others because I feel it is more natural. For the same reasons that I feed my dog and cat raw food and my tortoises weeds and greens.
I will go back and read up on the energy that you were talking about.

 

[Jensownzoo]

Now after saying all that, how much scratch and peck feed do your birds eat when there feed is not fermented, is it the same as when it is fermented? I have a funny felling that fermenting feed may lower the Metabolisable Energy.

When compared on a dry matter basis, feeding FF vs. non-FF results in lower feed consumption and better feed conversion, particularly in layers. However, this efficiency increases once an adaptation period is over--presumably because the intestinal microbiota needs time to stabilize and the intestinal villi to grow.

So, in layers you may have increased time until that first egg, but the eggs produced will be larger and higher quality, and result in higher egg mass produced during the laying life of the hen. In broilers, the weight gain will be slower initially, but will be balanced out by the increased gain in the finishing phase.

There are other benefits to FF such as improved disease resistance, but this is the data I found specific to feed efficiency.

 

[aart]

Wonders how much the alleged reduction of feed consumption has to do with that the wet stuff doesn't get spilled, billed and scratched out all over...not to mention rodent consumption. Most feeders for dry feed are ridiculously wasteful due to poor design. Just a thought.

 

[Em Ty]

Wonders how much the alleged reduction of feed consumption has to do with that the wet stuff doesn't get spilled, billed and scratched out all over...not to mention rodent consumption. Most feeders for dry feed are ridiculously wasteful due to poor design. Just a thought.

I didn't have any rodent of waste issues and I noticed a large reduction in feed consumption.

Why don't you try it out and see how it works for you? It's ridiculously easy.

 

[aart]

Quote: I, and my birds, are pretty happy with the crumbles...made my own waste free feeder, which did reduce amount of feed 'used'.

 

[Molpet]

Wonders how much the alleged reduction of feed consumption has to do with that the wet stuff doesn't get spilled, billed and scratched out all over...not to mention rodent consumption. Most feeders for dry feed are ridiculously wasteful due to poor design. Just a thought.

when I was feeding pellets there was very little waste, at least in the top of the bag LOL.. however when I ferment those pellets they ate about 1/3rd less , about 1//2 less water consumption and the poop stunk less